SAN JOSE – UCSB’s baseball team split a doubleheader with San Jose State on Saturday, winning the first game, 7-0 and dropping the nightcap when SJSU scored in the bottom of the ninth, 6-5. The games were part of a Saturday doubleheader due to heavy rain in the Bay Area, which washed out a scheduled Friday start of the three-game series.
UCSB is now 2-1 while San Jose State is 2-2.
In the first game, Mario Hollands had zero problem with the time change.
The left-hander allowed just two hits over eight shutout innings, striking out four in the 7-0 victory. Hollands (1-0) threw 105 pitches and faced just three batters over the minimum.
The 2008 All-American did not start the ninth inning, instead giving way to Matthew Brady, who pitched a scoreless frame.
Matt Valaika and Trevor Whyte each homered in the game, in fact, in the same inning, which gave the Gauchos a 3-0 lead. UCSB added to it with two runs in the seventh inning on Shane Arslan’s two-run double. Santa Barbara added single runs in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Ryan Tregoning’s single scored Mark Haddow in the eighth and Sean Williams’ triple scored Ryan Palermo, who singled.
In the second game, Nick Loredo had a solid start in his Gaucho debut, pitching in his hometown. The San Jose native, who transferred to UCSB from San Jose CC, pitched 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out three.
Arslan hit a pair of home runs, his first career collegiate blasts, to help give UCSB a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. Mark Haddow’s third inning home run was his first of the year.
However, the Spartans began to break through. With a run in the fourth and two in the fifth, SJSU trailed UCSB, 4-3, before Palermo’s bases-loaded walk scored Tregoning to give the Gauchos a 5-3 advantage.
Loredo left after recording an out in the seventh, giving way to David Meals (0-1) and the Spartans scored two runs on Corey Valine’s single, tying the game.
Both sides went down in order in the eighth and the Gauchos went down 1-2-3 in the ninth before Karson Klauer’s one-out single in the ninth scored Craig Hertler, who opened the inning with a base hit.
The Gauchos and Spartans finish their three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. UCSB does not return home until a four-game weekend series beginning Mar. 12 vs. Northern Illinois.
